fc kids

As a leader of a children’s ministry, one thing you need to be comfortable with is the fact that you will always be recruiting new volunteers. If you’ve been in children’s ministry long enough you realize that volunteers come, and volunteers go. No matter what you do, the back door to volunteering will always be open because people enter into different seasons in life, people move away, or life circumstances simply cause your volunteers to step away for a while. Knowing this, it is imperative that you always keep your front door open. In other words, if you’re not constantly bringing in new volunteers, your ministry will suffer. You need to make sure that as one person goes, you have another person coming in.

To help us do this, we promote volunteerism here at Fellowship Church every weekend. One of the ways we do this is through promotional campaigns. Our latest volunteer campaign is called “I Serve FC Kids”. In this campaign we used flyers, posters, and standup cutouts to keep in the forefront of everyone’s mind that the programming in FC Kids only happens because of volunteers, and that those volunteers are people just like them.

Our goal is that, when people walk into Fellowship Church, they understand that we value volunteering as a major tenet of our church. Therefore, when the ask is made of them to volunteer, it doesn’t catch them by surprise. We want them to think, “Volunteering is important here, so I’m sure someone will be asking me to volunteer soon.” And believe me, we will.

Scroll through the pictures above to see some of the ways we promoted this campaign.

Why Build a Spinning Wheel?

For our recent reboot of the Elevate series, Berry Blast Theme Park, our staff and volunteers took time and effort to make a “point system” that would energize the kids and match the theme of our environment in FC Kids. The result: The Berry Blast Spinning Wheel! Our kids loved getting to come up and spin the wheel when their team won. It also gave them motivation to participate. Below are the instructions to make one for your environment, though you can adapt it for your own purposes.

How To:

1. Use a 1/2” sheet of plywood or MDF to create a 30” circle, with a hole in the center of the circle for a 3/8” bolt.

2. Divide the circle into 20 ‘pie’ wedges, more or less, for the points. (Note: There are twenty wedges exactly on the BBTP Spinner Art). Mark with a regular pencil.

3. Drill twenty holes for the 1/4” dowels about an inch inside all around the edge of the circle and evenly spaced apart. They need to be aligned with the edge of each ‘pie wedge’.

4. Cut the 1/4” dowels to about 4” long and glue them in the holes you just drilled. We used wood glue. These dowel rods will be used as handles to spin the wheel, as well as the stoppers for the flapper.

5. Paint the circle and the stoppers the same color. We used Behr® Ultra, Satin Finish “Glidden Fresh Tangerine”.

6. Print the “BBTP_Spinner_Art.jpg” from the Environmental Graphics folder (available when you purchase the series) and adhere to the inside of the circle with screws. We used plastic screw head covers to disguise them. You can also create your own art. You can decorate your ‘pie wedges’ with different colors, different point amounts or whatever you are having the kids try to win. You can do this by painting, or by printing pieces, to adhere to the ‘pie wedges’.

7. To mount the circle to it’s stand, use a 4’x4’ post that’s at least 4’ tall. Mark a hole centered 20” down from the top the post, and drill a 3/8” hole all the way through the post. This is for the bolt that goes through the post and the center of the circle. We used washers to create space between the post and the circle so that the wheel can spin freely. We also used the base and ring with ball bearings from a lazy susan to help the circle spin. So the end result on the bolt went in this order (from back to front):

Note: Do NOT screw the Lazy Susan Base to the circle, instead, tighten the Bolt and Lock Nut just enough so the wheel spins freely and the ball bearings stay inside the Lazy Susan Base.

8. Use 2×4’s to create a base for the post and spinner. Screw the 2’x4’s to the bottom of the post first, in a radiating pattern. Then attach MDF around the edge in the form of a box. Then use the remaining MDF to form the top of the base. Finally, attach the trim with a nail gun, or other method, around the sides and edges of the base.

9. Use wood putty to fill the nail holes. When dry, paint the base and trim.

10. About an inch above the top edge of the spinner, drill a hole in the post for a 1/4” dowel that is at least 3 inches long. Using a jig saw, cut a narrow channel through that dowel and attach a thin piece of leather or plastic that hangs down. This creates the flapper that needs to be long enough to hit each of the dowels on the spinner.

11. Now you are done! Place your Berry Blast Wheel on your stage for the lessons and let the fun begin!

Over the last few weeks I’ve been talking about recruiting volunteers. I’ve talked about not neglecting all types of potential volunteers. I’ve talked about why, biblically, we are to serve others and involve others in serving as an administer even more than as a minister. And now, for the practical side of recruiting volunteers. Fishing.

There are three types of fishing and each type snags a different type of volunteer.

#1. Go fishing with a Net

It’s basically a large call out to the people of your church. It could be an announcement in the bulletin, it could be a flyer you hand out at the door, or a booth in the lobby. This is getting the word out for vacation bible school, or summer camp, or a build project. Make sure they have a way to respond or a call to action.

Example: After one of our campaigns to increase awareness we handed out volunteering cards to everyone in the service. We had talked about it, been praying for them, and we got back 150 cards from people interested in volunteering. So that gave us a hot list to start calling to plug people into volunteering.

#2. Go fishing with a Pole

You are going after a specific type of fish or volunteer. To get this specific type of fish, you need to go to the ‘pool’ where these fish are swimming. If you need a builder, go to the men’s ministry to a bunch of guys to help build. If you need someone on stage in a kind of ‘ra-ra’ get kids excited way, go to the drama team. You need to be strategic when recruiting volunteers for a specific role. We even use our database and print out a list of people based on their hobbies or jobs to call about specific opportunities in our ministry.

You can also create a pool to fish from! Example: We have a class called the Newcomers Class for people interested in joining our church. That is a pool we want to fish from because those people are obviously interested in finding out more about the church, so they may be interested in serving once they hear about the different ministries. Another thing we do is called our Volunteer Tour. We take people behind the scenes to see the different areas within the church in action and to answer the question, ‘what type of ministry do I want to serve in?’ Then we take the list and find out exactly where they want to serve.

#3. Go fishing with a Spear

This is when you make a deliberate effort to go after a specific person. Maybe you’ve noticed a man or a woman or teenager that you want to get serving. They may be one of those that you have been praying for for a long time. Or you may not even know them and may have watched them and noticed them. Usually these types of people do not respond to the net or pole, they only respond to direct conversation with you when you share the vision of your ministry. And they can turn out to be the best volunteers.

So there you have it. The who, the why and the how of recruiting volunteers. Every principle I’ve talked about is a principle we use at Fellowship Church to involve everyone in loving God and loving others. You can’t be a week at Fellowship without hearing about volunteering and you can’t be here a month without expecting to be asked. Again, volunteering is not about you, or even the kids, it’s about involving everyone in God’s kingdom so they can grow into fully mature followers of Christ. So be bold, and as we say at Fellowship Church, “Go for the ask!”

Last week I said “God has called me to not only involve those who want to volunteer, but to involve those who don’t want to volunteer as well. And you know what? God has given you that calling too!” Now I know that that is a bold statement, so before you hyperventilate, let me explain why I believe the Bible tells us so.

What’s Most Important?

The Bible speaks of a time when a Pharisee came to Jesus to ask Him which commandment of the Law was most important (Matthew 22:36-39 NIV). Now personally, I say that’s a great question (even if the motives of this Pharisee weren’t the purest). After all, my inquiring mind tells me that if there is one thing that God wants me to be doing above all else, I want to know what it is so I can make sure that I am doing it! Well, believe it or not, Jesus gave the Pharisee an answer. He told him that there were not one, but two commands. The first and greatest was to love God with all your heart, soul and mind. The second one, which was like it, was to love your neighbor as yourself.

There you have it. The Top Two. The Twin Towers of power. The Two Beacons of light that will guide us in our deepening walk with God. Jesus said, and I paraphrase, “So you want to be obedient? OK, then love God in your actions, in your words, in your thoughts and in your worship; and love others as much as you love yourself.”

Simple right?

Yeah…not so much. Especially that “love your neighbor as yourself” statement. That’s a tough command for all of us, and it’s one we usually try to sweep under the rug and casually act like it’s not there. The problem, however, is that we can’t do that, because without obeying this second command we will not grow spiritually.

Grow in Love

To show you what I mean let’s turn to the book of Ephesians, chapter four (Ephesians 4:14-16 NIV). Here Paul says that all baby believers should desire to grow and become mature under the head of Christ. In real life babies are cute and cuddly…for a while. Soon however we expect those babies to grow up, assume responsibility for themselves and become fully functioning members of the family. This is true for us spiritually as well. Paul says we must grow and mature as a member of God’s family (His body) so that we can assume responsibility for ourselves and become functioning members of that family.

To make this happen Paul says that we must grow and build ourselves up in love. Love for who? Why the very ones Jesus commanded us to love of course! Love for God and love and others!

Interesting huh? If we merge the divinely inspired words of Paul with the words of Jesus we discover that in order to mature, each of us must grow and build ourselves up in our love for God, AND each of us must grow and build ourselves up in our love for others.

But we’re still not done yet, we have one more question. How do we grow and build ourselves up in this love? Paul gives us the answer. We grow and build ourselves up in love as we WORK. And that my friends is the hard part. We must work at loving God (through Bible study, prayer, obedience, church attendance, etc) and we must work at loving others (through acts of kindness and service). If we do this God promises us that we will grow and become a mature part of the body of Christ that He will use to do His work.

OK, so you might be asking “what does this have to do with recruiting volunteers?”. My answer…Everything! If we can fully understand the process involved in becoming a mature believer it will completely change the way we recruit volunteers. Let me explain. Our job as Children’s Leaders is two fold. To bring children into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and to bring to maturity the leaders who serve alongside us in completing this task. In God’s eyes, one is not more important than the other…they are equal. Someday I believe we will all stand before God and be accountable for the children He placed in our care. But I also believe we will be held accountable for the adults He put in our church that He wanted us to help grow and become mature by getting them involved in serving others. What a privilege it is to be a children’s leader! God has chosen you to have the greatest opportunity to help people mature in their walk because you have been afforded the place with the greatest need for people to be serving in the church, the ministry to children! We need to keep this in mind when recruiting volunteers. There is no other area in the church that has as many service opportunities (opportunities that will cause a person to grow and mature) as what the Preschool and Children’s ministries have to offer. We should rejoice in the fact that God has given us this privilege of being so involved in the maturation of others (and the rewards in Heaven for doing so)!

So here it is in a nutshell. If I truly believe that people only grow and mature when they are loving God and loving others, then it is my responsibility to help them to accomplish both. My job is not to do the work of the ministry all by myself, my job is to give the ministry over to God’s people so they can become mature as they serve. In a very real sense I am more of an administer than I am a minister. My job is to organize and provide opportunities where people can can work at loving God and work at loving others! This is a great task!

How to Ask

When I ask a volunteer to serve, I shouldn’t go to them with hat in hand asking them to do me a favor by serving in the Children’s Ministry. Instead I should go to them boldly telling them that I want to do them a favor by getting them involved. If I have this attitude, I will now see recruiting volunteers in a whole new light. When I ask someone to volunteer, I will not feel guilty about putting them out, or about bothering them. Instead I will see their life as my responsibility, given to me by God, to grow and mature through service. I will say “I love you enough to keep asking you over and over and over because I know that if you don’t serve, you won’t grow. And I love you too much to let that happen.”

I hope you can now see that if a volunteer is to ever reach their full potential, they need to lead a balanced spiritual life. If a person’s only focus in life is to love God by feeding on His Word, then that person will become spiritually obese. However, if a person only focuses on serving others, that person will burn out due to a lack of spiritual nutrition. Everyone in the church needs to be doing both; loving God AND loving others. When they do, the Bible promises us that they will become a mature part of the body of Christ, ready to do even more of His work. When that happens, we will have all the volunteers we will need.

So challenge yourself this week to personally ask at least two people to come volunteer in your ministry. And remember – it’s not, “Do me a favor,” it’s “Let me do you a favor – come volunteer”!

Next week I’ll be talking about the top three ways to recruit volunteers. And it’s all about fishing.

When I think about recruiting volunteers, I think of a big yellow box with the word “Potential” emblazoned across the top of it (Why yellow? Because when it comes to recruiting I try to envision as many happy things as I can!) When I open this cheerfully colored box I see inside it every person who is part of my church. As I look closely I also see that every one of these people fall into one of four distinct groups.

In The Big Box

The first group of people are wearing t-shirts and hats that say “I LOVE KIDS” . These awesome folks are jumping up and down with their hands raised yelling “Pick Me! Pick Me!” I like this group because they often come with their own “object lesson tool kits” and sometimes even provide their own snacks.

The second group of people are those who are looking up at me and casually wondering why I am looking at them. They’re somewhat interested in volunteering but definitely not as fanatical as the first group.

The third group consists of people who are totally clueless that the lid is even open and that I am standing there watching them. For these people, children’s ministry is not even a blip on the radar.

The fourth and final group are those who, the moment I took the lid off, scampered off to the dark corners of the box trying to hide. They are the ones who, for some reason, see me as a threat to their normal everyday life of bliss and happiness.

As I look at these four groups of people my natural inclination is to primarily focus on the first group. Why? Because they make my recruiting task easy and even fun, two words not usually associated with volunteer recruitment.

As for the other three groups? Well I try to get them involved. I either call them (but only when I know they won’t be home so I can just leave a message) or I type up a sincere, heartfelt letter and click the Send button. Beyond that I don’t give them a lot of effort because, quite frankly, when I reach out to them I almost always hear the word NO more than I hear the word YES! And, since I don’t like the indigestion the word NO gives me, I tend to push these three groups out of my consciousness.

Recruiting Volunteers, What Now?

But, to be honest, if I do this it presents a couple of big problems for me. The first is that there just isn’t enough of those “pick me, pick me,” people to cover all the areas I need. The second is that as a church leader (and if you work with kids you are a church leader), God has called me to not only involve those who want to volunteer, but to involve those who don’t want to volunteer as well. And you know what? God has given you that calling too! So this week, when you look for people to ask to serve, don’t just look for those ‘pick me types’, go for the ask when it comes to the other types of people as well – even those who don’t even know you have a kid’s ministry. Biblically, we are commanded not to neglect those other three groups of people.

Now I know that is a bold statement, so before you hyperventilate, in my next blog I will explain what the Bible says specifically about volunteer recruiting.

All kids have authority issues.

As parents we have all been there. We tell our children not to do something, and when we turn our backs they decide to do it anyway. Obviously, the root of the problem is their own selfishness. They want to do what they want to do, and not do what you want them to do. But, they are also experiencing a problem with authority, a problem that if you don’t deal with now, will come back to hurt them and haunt them for the rest of their life.

All of us are subject to authority. Whether it be our boss at work, the police and firemen who protect our streets and homes, or the governmental authorities that we vote into position. Most importantly however, is that fact that we are all subject to God’s authority, and by disobeying the authority that He places over us, we are ultimately disobeying Him. That is why it’s important for your child to understand that you, as their parents, are in authority over them, and that that authority has been given to you by God. When they obey you, they are obeying God. When they disobey you, they are disobeying God. If we want our children to live a successful life, they have to learn to obey authority. When they do they will be able to grow up to be the leaders that God designed them to be. Have your child watch the video below about the life of Samuel and how he, by obeying Eli and by obeying God, became one of the greatest prophets in the Bible.

An “Umbrella Fella”

When the video is complete, talk to your child about authority. Use an umbrella as an example. An umbrella is designed to protect us, but the umbrella only works when we stay underneath it. If it’s raining outside and we stay under the umbrella, we won’t get wet. But if we leave the umbrella, we are sure to get soaked to the bone. Authority is like an umbrella. When we stay under those who are in authority over us by doing what they ask us to do, we will be protected from the harmful things in life. If we step out from under the umbrella of authority that protection is no longer over us and we will suffer the negative consequences. Make sure your child knows that God has great plans for them, but those plans will only come about if they live a life of obedience.

For more great tips on helping your child obey and to learn many other great character qualities, go to <a title="Kid's Videos on LeadershipForKids.tv" href="https://www read review.leadershipforkids.tv/browse/plans?utm_source=MJBlog&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=reactive” target=”_blank”>LeadershipForKids.tv and sign up today.

As a child I remember the “Countdown to Christmas Advent Calendar” my family used, where little chocolates and scripture readings sat waiting for me behind little windows that were opened each day. It’s funny how this simple cardboard stand made the joyful anticipation of Christmas even greater while helping me to learn even more about the Christmas story.

Because this is such a fond memory of mine we wanted to recreate that joyful feeling with your children this holiday season too!

Week One: The Light Is PromisedThe promise of the Christ and the promises of God.

Week Two: The Light Is RevealedGod revealing His plan to bring Jesus into the world.

Week Three: The Light ShinesJesus’ birth is announced to the world.

Week Four: The Light Must Be SharedThe light of Jesus is to be shared around the world.

As a parent, I encourage you to have a special treat that follows the completion of each Scripture reading and video. Nothing big, just something as simple as a piece of chocolate. It will add to the excitement, and it will make a memory and tradition your child will cherish forever.

Not experiencing the amazing benefits of LeadershipForKids.tv yet? No problem! Sign up today for free and utilize it to make this special lifetime memory with your children. Simply go to Leadershipforkids.tv and begin this special Christmas journey today! You can also download the LeadershipForKids.tv App off iTunes or Google Play for easy access on your phone or tablet.

This month Dr. Claude Thomas and C3Global, a church leadership network, hosted an Elevate webinar on “How to Elevate the Next Generation in Your Church.” During this webinar I gave an overview of how we create the curriculum, how you can use the curriculum, and some of the new things we started this year! Children’s pastors Jason Tilley and Joanna Barnes also joined us to share tips and perspectives on using Elevate in FCKids at Fellowship Church.
If you have any questions after watching this video, please contact the Elevate team at [email protected] or call 855-MY-ELEVATE.

Note: The 20% discount mentioned in this webinar is no longer active. For more information on C3Global, or their curriculum discount, please contact [email protected]

“We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too.” 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (NLT)

Many kinds of gifts are given to be shared. In middle school I had a friend whose parents gave him a football that he almost always carried with him. At any moment when we had time, we would start tossing it around. If other kids were around, a game might even start up. All because my friend had a football with him most of the time. A football is not very fun until you start to pass it around. But the more people you share it with, the bigger, better, and more fun the game can get.

That is what it is like with the Gospel. The Good News is not a keepsake, like a signed football we should keep in a display case in our rooms. It is meant to be taken out in the world. Like my friend, carrying his football around with him, we can take out the Gospel at any moment and pass it back and forth with a friend. We might fumble it. Our friends might not catch it. But we are meant to take it with us. You don’t have to pull out your Bible and read verses to people at coffee breaks. But you might talk about what you learned at church this week, or about something you are praying for, or ask your friend what they believe and then share your beliefs. If you have something you love, you can’t help showing it to, and sharing it with, your friends. So think about the Good News of Jesus in that way. Get a tiny football, or something else to carry with you to remind you to share the Good News wherever, whenever, and to whoever you can. It is always a good time to pass the Good News.

Note: This is an adaptation from a teacher devotional from the Elevate Kids series “<a title="Good News Kids Series" href="http://http://www.elevatepastors slimming pills for women.com/good-news.html”>Good News“.